A free country?

England, part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, that place of freedom for the common man, the place where the Magna Carta was drawn up and signed, the political model for most of the free world is based on our constitution.

Modern Britain, the place were there are more don'ts than do's.

Have you ever seen signs like this?

No ball games - every young boy knows this one
No eating or drinking
No smoking
No swearing
Silence
No mobile phones
No exit
No no no no no

On the 1st July 2007, England will become the last country in the UK to 'embrace' the NO SMOKING law. The Republic of Ireland took this stance a couple of years earlier, Scotland was followed by Wales more recently, and England, the last bastion for smokers in the UK on Jul 1st.

We already have 'no drinking' (on the street) laws applied in some towns / cities, CCTV cameras everywhere, some talking cameras that shout at people who may drop litter, Gatso cameras on the roads catching speeding cars, speed bumps, automatic billing cameras for toll areas and congestion zones, computers sending out penalties for non-payment of Road Tax, cameras on every corner watching your every move. Mobile phones can be tracked when a call is made, Number Recognition Software can be used to spot cars and report positions, linked to the DVLA computer can then identify the owner and address of that vehicle. Small time criminals are 'tagged' so that their whereabouts can be traced, internet traffic is traced, phones can be tapped. Where will it end. They want us to have ID cards - what's the problem if you've got nothing to hide? HIDE? In this country you'd need to burrow 6 feet underground to hide.

Now we cannot smoke in any enclosed public building. Enclosed is defined as having more than 1 supporting wall and a roof. Building includes vehicles, pubs, clubs, restaurants, shops or the workplace. Now, I agree with certain aspects of say in shops, but as for bars and restaurants, that should be down to the venue owner, not legislation. As an adult, I decided to drink alcohol and smoke tobacco - mostly at the same time. The government are now telling me that I cannot socialise with other smoking friends in a public bar and have a drink and a cigarette at the same time. Whatever happened to the bars with two separate areas. You used to have a bar and a lounge. Whatever happened to personal choice - if it allows smoking and you're offended by that, then go somewhere else. We do not need legislation to tell us when and where we can smoke, drink, breath, eat, go to the toilet etc.

These views are mine and should not be repeated for risk of being arrested by the thought police.